Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of clinical oncologists in regions with the lowest consultant-to-population ratios.

We’re building our cancer workforce. As of February 2025, there are over 1,800 full time equivalent doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is almost 150, or 8.9%, more than last year.

We will publish a new workforce plan to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to deliver the care patients need, transforming the health service and making it fit for the future.